Finally...
Hyperception and I just returned from the movie. All I can say is...
Jenn, you are absolutely right. It is not the book, too much is left unexplained (I so miss not seeing Lockhart again, and the explanation about Neville's parents didn't justify Bellatrix without seeing the result of Neville's love for them in St. Mungo's), but as a movie it was fantastic. I even felt more about Sirius and the veil from the movie than from what I read in the book. I became more involved in his and Harry's relationship in this movie than I ever did in the books.
That said, my minor gripes about the movie are:
Spoiler
1. I spent the whole film trying to see past Harry bangs, looking for his scar. The only time I saw it was when Lucius mentions it, and then it was like it was blatant. Weird.
2. Physical age is definitely catching up with the kids, yet their emotional actions don't match their bodies. Ginny looks 15, the others even older, and she's supposed to be two years younger. I have seen older actors play younger ones convincingly. I blame make up for this more than anything else.
3. I don't understand why they changed the way Sirius's head appears in the flames. I loved the way it was done in GOF, with his facial features being made out of glowing coals.
4. I did not like how trivial the OWLs seemed to be. It made it appear it was a one day test, similar to SATs. Totally misleading, IMO.
5. I would have liked to have heard that Hagrid went to the giants with Madam Maxine. Build up a little back story outside of Harry.
6. The attack on McGonagal. How could that be left out?
7. Not introducing the new Divination teacher, I forgot his name, the centaur. I so wanted to see him again...sigh...
8. And finally...
If Kreacher is so important that Jo made them put him back into the movie after being cut, how could they not have had the locket with 'S' on it that was found in Grimmauld Place? Unless it doesn't mean what we all think it means?
2. Physical age is definitely catching up with the kids, yet their emotional actions don't match their bodies. Ginny looks 15, the others even older, and she's supposed to be two years younger. I have seen older actors play younger ones convincingly. I blame make up for this more than anything else.
3. I don't understand why they changed the way Sirius's head appears in the flames. I loved the way it was done in GOF, with his facial features being made out of glowing coals.
4. I did not like how trivial the OWLs seemed to be. It made it appear it was a one day test, similar to SATs. Totally misleading, IMO.
5. I would have liked to have heard that Hagrid went to the giants with Madam Maxine. Build up a little back story outside of Harry.
6. The attack on McGonagal. How could that be left out?
7. Not introducing the new Divination teacher, I forgot his name, the centaur. I so wanted to see him again...sigh...
8. And finally...
If Kreacher is so important that Jo made them put him back into the movie after being cut, how could they not have had the locket with 'S' on it that was found in Grimmauld Place? Unless it doesn't mean what we all think it means?
::end of cross post:::
That said, I was really excited by a lot of the trailers I saw before the movie. Disney's Enchanted looks hysterical, I had not heard a thing about Across the Universe before seeing the trailer and now I am intensely curious to see what this is about, and what is The Spiderwick Chronicles? I never heard of it but it looks intriguing. This from someone who goes to the theater maybe three times a year at most...
